San Diego Comic Con pt 4 - Famous Faces Get Smashed

So as not to disappoint, I'll try and throw in some more pictures of fame and fortune that I discovered on my journey through the thing call the San Diego International Comic Convention.


Here we have Geof Darrow (Shaolin Cowboy & Matrix comics) signing a poster with Mike Mignola (Hellboy) looking over his shoulder.

The guy behind Mike is flashing gang signs. This gang activity as well as Mike breathing down his neck made Geof really, really nervous. He ended up signing the poster "Agent Smith" by accident. I think it's understandable, we'd all get nervous when our life is on the line.

Below is a picture of Richard Hatch who played Starbuck on the original Battlestar Galactica. He still looks pretty young and it's surprising that I haven't seen him on the new series.

Why didn't they at least give the actors from the original guest star roles? I like the new series but think someone is being a jerk about that. As I've been around La La land for a while, I realize that there is a disconnect between the fans and those who make series like that. A big reason the remakes almost always die a horrible death. Since I'm not on that production I don't have any inside information, but I'd bet that someone feels they know better than the fans. Just look for a little man who will turn around any time someone yells "Napoleon"!

Above I got a quick shot of Ray Harryhausen as he was rushed to an event. I had previously met him when he was on a panel in 1998 with Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, and moderated by Harry Knowles. Who in the world was Harry Knowles?!?

After the panel in 1998 I got a chance to speak to Ray, Harlan, and Harry which was wonderful. Plus I got the chance to completely ignore Mr. Knowles. That was wonderful too.

This is David Franklin (left) and Lani John Tupu (right) from Farscape. A great show, but it's been recently canceled so DVD is the best way to catch it.

And last (for now) but not least is Herb Jefferson Jr. (on the left - Battlestar Galactica, Airwolf, Knight Rider, much more) and Bobby Clark who was the stuntman who played The Gorn in the original Star Trek. Mr. Clark has been in a bunch of other shows as well...but to most of us he'll always be Gorn. Neither of these guys are hugely famous, but they've been around a lot of the big names. So if you're nice to them they'll tell you great stories about all the drugs and sex that they saw. Like the time Shatner and Nimoy were going through their "experimental" phase. [Edited out the nasty bits because I was told "What happens in space, stays in space." Sorry.]

GORN!

And that's not quite all that I have, but I really do have to go back to writing. I'll try and finish up my late con report tomorrow.

San Diego Comic Con Indy Friendly Pictures pt 3

While I was running around San Diego I did try to make sure that I caught some of my fellow indy publishers while I was on site. They weren't all too friendly at getting their pictures taken, but I know how to sneak and hide. When they least expected it...POW! I socked them in the nose and made them pose.

These guys from APE Entertainment were extremely cool. I've been a big fan of theirs ever since I picked up some of their trades at my local shop.
I am not sure who is in the picture. Is it Brent Erwin, David Hedgecock, Mike Hall or someone just minding the store...I forget names as fast as I forget yesterday's breakfast. Sorry.

[Belacaleb helped me out by saying that guy in the middle is INDEED Brent Erwin. Sorry but he's not sure about the guy on the left or the blond on the right but thinks that he's kissed them both.]

Stan Yan got me to touch The WANG. I felt so dirty inside. Stan just laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed.



















Then I captured Jason Martin, the creator of SUPER REAL while he was sleeping. I actually got him to sign a book for me too. Though it says "Wee winky woo woo", but that's still cool.





















Here's a couple from Dreamweaver Press. I believe that's Daphne Lage in the dress. The guy trying to get out of the picture is wanted in Utah for multiple felony counts so he was trying to hide. I support the police so I made sure to use the wide angle.
Bad boys, bad boys Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do When they come for you!

This is my UNKNOWN picture #1. Who are these two? I was stuck in traffic and this guy had some major sideburns. The comics looked interesting...but crap, look at those sideburns!! The book is STORMCROW.

Spike & Mike's animation is pretty cool...but what about that hat? Seconds after this photo was taken the guy flaps his wings and flies away. Quee Reek! Quee Reek!

This is Bob Burden from Flaming Carrot and this book should be so much more famous than it is. It's been around since the 1970's. Great guy and more people should have taken the time to stop by. Bob is in that class of creators who the younger crowd should be embracing and learning from. To understand what I'm talking about you just have to pick up a volume of his book.

My friend Brant wants to know where you can buy that statue. Luckily Bob is selling them himself at his website. Pretty cool statues but according to what Bob wrote on the website, they're extremely limited.

In the picture below you can see Serena Valentino (far right), creator of Gloom Cookie and Nightmares and Fairy Tales. These books looked great. But I haven't gotten to reading them yet as I've been writing so much. You'd think a writer would have more reading time. But there's only so much time in the day and I've got to fit as much eating, sleeping, and sex into every hour that I can. Life is short.

The woman in glasses I think is an artist and was extremely nice. I'm sorry that I didn't get her name. If anyone would be so kind, please leave a comment with who she is.

[Serena Valentino emailed me to set the record straight. Thanks Serena! " That would be John Gebbia (on the left), GloomCookie artist 7-12 and FSc (next to me) Nightmares & Fairy Tales co-creator and artist 1-12." FSc is the middle person in glasses. Cool name, but I had to read the email about 10 times before I figured out what that meant. And poor John, I thought he was just their to count bags and loose change.]

I've got more pictures of some famous faces...but I've got business to do so that will have to be all for today.

San Diego Comic Con..pt 2 we battle it out for Star Wars

There were troopers stationed around to make sure everyone kept their distance. But I did sneak a peek at some of the cast from Star Wars. The cast was friendly but the goons watching them weren't, not to be confused with Eric Powell's Goon. And some of the other fans seemed rigid with fear and wouldn't move. I had to trample at least two to get these pictures. My sympathies go out to their families.

There's Peter Mayhew who seemed very shy. Maybe that's why he's most comfortable in the Chewbacca mask?

And Lando Calrissian played by the youthful Billy Dee Williams. Someone needs to bottle his secret and start selling the aging creme for men. (Notice the Goon in the left hand corner? He got a jab to his privates only seconds after this picture was taken.)

And here's another of Billy with someone that's I've since forgotten.

He might have been an Ugnaught. Not that it really matters since I know he wasn't C3P0 (I've met Anthony Daniels before) or R2D2. They are the only two for me. Ahh....droid love.

Yeah...not as exciting as you'd imagine. In retrospect, it wasn't worth killing over.

San Diego Comic Con...months late pt 1

Yeah...I know this is so far after the fact. But I was at the San Diego Comic Con last summer promoting our up-coming books. I had a Gene Gardens t-shirt on, not sure if any fans recognized me but more than a few creators did. Thanks guys! At least it's nice to know that my peers have noticed us. Next year we should have a King Tractor Press table. I'm sending in my application early.

Here are some pictures that I will try to point out the faces if I can. Please feel free to comment on any that I get wrong.



This is Eric Powell of The Goon fame. Great book and extremely nice guy. I have to admit that I hadn't quite gotten around to reading The Goon when I took this picture. But he was nice and seemed to like our art, so I shot the photo. Then I read the first volume and was blown away. Sometimes it's better if you don't have a clue who a celebrity is when you meet them. Less chance of passing out.



This of course is Terry Moore from Strangers In Paradise. And the photo is proof that he's not a woman, contrary to the rumors.

The girls below were promoting the film Oldboy but I'm not sure whether they were actually in the film.

This is Stan Sakai who writes Usagi Yojimbo. It's still going strong and one of the best indie books ever. Highly recommend everyone checking out the series, especially Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans.

Here's a nice crowd picture. Notice the big brown furry creature?

NO!!! I'm not talking about the guy with the glasses and backpack. I'm talking about the thing behind him. I haven't a clue to what that is...but I think it was following me.

[Belacaleb smartly states that the brown thing is an uglydoll. "The one named "Wage," to be specific." he says. Here's a photo of them and I see the resemblence. Though the glasses and backpack throw me off...but otherwise dead on. Still I'm unsure of the thing behind "Wage".]

There was some high energy at the KWOON booth. I have to admit that I've seen the DVD and it's enjoyable, but only if you like poor acting cheese with some decent kung-fu. I can't call what I saw martial arts, no art about it. But it was interesting.